Crytek Just Closed Most Of Their Studios, Get The Details

Following rumors that Crytek employees were not receiving paychecks for an extended period of time, the developer this week closed five of its studios including those in Hungary, Bulgaria, South Korea, China and Turkey.

According to a report from Kotaku, Crytek has stated that the company plans to "refocus" its efforts into creating more innovative games and technology. Unfortunately, "refocus" translates into closing five full studios after a long period of financial hardships. There's also the added sting of all of those folks being out of a job right here at the holidays.

This comes following last week's reports that Crytek was not paying many of its employees. Last week we reported on a Reddit post claiming to be from a Crytek employee. The post stated that many employees were going without pay and that, worse still, they weren't having any luck speaking with the higher-ups about the matter. It sounds like they were just being told to cool their jets because they didn't see "the big picture." Apparently, that picture was the inevitable closure of a bunch of studios.

While we've seen no official statement from Crytek concerning the claims that people were not being paid, the developer behind games like Crysis and Ryse shuttering most of its locations seems to indicate that, yes, there were some financial issues going on. The concerned employee explained that they were utilizing anonymous posts on social media because, at this point, they were out of ideas and looking for potential options.

With all of those studios shuttered, Crytek now will only operate out of its home in Germany and the Ukraine. They've stated plans to create a smooth transition of employees who will be put out of work, so here's hoping everyone lands on their feet.

The press release from Crytek goes on to thank its employees, as well as state that transitions like this are tricky to understand. If nothing else, they seem positive about the road ahead.

Our focus now lies entirely on the core strengths that have always defined Crytek -- world-class developers, state-of-the-art technology and innovative game development, and we believe that going through this challenging process will make us a more agile, viable, and attractive studio, primed for future success.

At this point, we're not sure exactly what Crytek is working on moving forward. Their latest game was the VR experience Robinson: The Journey, but they've been pretty quiet otherwise. They've still got the Cryengine tech going for them, though, so maybe its success will help keep things moving while they figure out what those next projects will be.